It's in the Past

Nothing changes. Not the fumbles. Not the defensive breakdowns. Not the outcome. Not even the Gators' chances of winning the Southeastern Conference.

"We all got together and said, 'Hey, let's go. We're still on the right track,"' Harvin said. "We're right where we want to be as far as winning our division and getting the SEC championship. That's what our goal is right now. We're still on track. Of course, we can't drop any more. But we know we're not out of it yet."

The 12th-ranked Gators (3-1, 1-1 SEC) spent the week regrouping from the stunning and humbling home loss to a three-touchdown underdog. They rallied around the fact that nothing has changed in the SEC, where winning the rest of their games would guarantee a spot in the conference title game.

The first one comes Saturday at Arkansas (2-2, 0-1).

"We got hit in the mouth," Florida coach Urban Meyer said. "This will tell you a lot about what kind of season we're going to have. It won't be the first time and it won't be the last time this year we'll face adversity right square in the face.

"The biggest adversity we had (before) was someone saying, 'Boy, you guys aren't having 500-yard games.' OK. That was the biggest adversity we had to deal with. Now, we're dealing with it, and I kind of like the reaction so far."

Meyer gathered his players and coaches together Sunday night, opened the floor to anyone who had something to say and then took them out for a late-night practice in hopes of getting "that taste out of your mouth."

Players were reminded that Florida's two national championship teams, in 1996 and 2006, each rebounded from a loss during the regular season. And there were plenty of other examples tossed around in the locker room, the weight room, the training room and meeting rooms of teams bouncing back from a loss.

"It's just talking to everybody individually and making sure the leaders talk to everybody and keep encouraging everybody because everything's right out there on the table for us," quarterback Tim Tebow said.

The Heisman Trophy winner fumbled once, misfired on four deep passes and was stuffed on a fourth-and-1 play at the Ole Miss 32-yard line in the final minute. He apologized to fans in an emotional speech following the game, then repeated his vows to teammates the following day.

He promised something good would come from the loss and that no player in the country would play as hard as he would the rest of the season.

"Everything I said I can control," Tebow said.

"I thought about it before I said it. I didn't say we're going to win all our games. I didn't say we're going to score every time we touch the ball. I said I was going to play as hard as I can possibly play, harder than anybody else, and I can control that and I will do that.

"We are going to go as hard as we can and we will be known as a team that plays extremely hard and has a lot of heart."

The Gators have lost consecutive games just once in Meyer's four years, falling to Auburn and LSU in back-to-back Saturdays last season.

They don't want it to happen again.

"I think this team is mature enough now where it can rebound from a loss," defensive coordinator Charlie Strong said. "You hope you can learn from a loss, and we'll see how good a football team we are Saturday."